BEHIND THE CRAFT
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Köhler's Medicinal Plants

The tea plant is well worth celebrating for its beauty as well as for its usefulness. It's a small evergreen plant with dark, pointy leaves with serrated edges. Fragrant, delicate white flowers bloom in the Spring.

We celebrate this most important plant with a beautiful representation from Kohler's work of the late 19th century, on our Signature range of teas.

Of true historical botanical importance, Köhler's Medicinal Plants is a three-volume work by Hermann Köhler, a German chemist and physician.

A guide to the known botanicals of the time, it contains hundreds of stunning and precise illustrations, produced by a process called chromolithography, the common method of producing colour prints at the time.

FGTE20101

The Prince Sultan's Green Tea with Mint x 20 Tea Bag Sachets

Net Weight: 50g

The delicate flavour of this classic Chinese green tea is enhanced with the vibrant freshness of natural mint. Can be drunk as a flavoursome digestif after dinner.

The East India Company - Lifestyle

Tea

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£6.00
A blend of fine green tea and fresh mint, with routes in The East India Company's past.

The Company starting trading with the Persian empire after 1622, when the British fleet supported the Persian Emperor Shāh Abbās in expelling the Portuguese from Hormuz Island. In return, the (British) East India Company was allowed to set up a trading post in the coastal city of Bandar 'Abbās, the main port in the Persian Gulf.

Years of exchange in cultures and tastes followed between the East and West. One of which, was the tradition of using mint to enhance the flavour of the Chinese gunpowder green tea that was used, a tradition carried on with our blend of today, named Prince Sultan in honour of its origins.
Whilst today we use a finer blend of green tea that brews a little faster the story of the gunpowder green tea that would have been used originally is an interesting one - incredibly it dates back to the Tang Dynasty of 618-907, when known as zhū chá or literally 'pearl tea' because of the shape formed when the leaf was rolled into a small pellet after the steaming part of the process and before drying.

This helped the dried tea retain flavour and aroma - it can last for decades in excellent condition.

It was the British of course who noticed the shape was like a gunpowder pellet, coining the name - somewhat less poetic than the original.
The liquor develops into a warm amber colour in the cup.

The mint dominates the aroma.

The green tea has a little astringency, the mint brings a cool and fresh flavour to the cup.
The Moroccan tea ceremony is a serious affair.

Piping hot water is poured into a tall silver pot containing green tea, sugar and fresh sprigs of mint. Once brewed, it's expertly poured from height into small glasses on a silver tray, frothy on the surface.

It's great theatre, never to be forgotten.

Whilst not so easy to all of that at home, drinking your green tea with mint blend out of the tiny Moroccan tea glasses is easy and adds a little bit of fun to enhance the experience.
Quantity

1 SACHET PER CUP

Temperature

200ML OF WATER AT 80ºC

Brewing Time

2-3 MINS BREWING TIME

Ingredients

Green Tea, Natural Mint

Storage

Store in a cool, dry place avoiding direct sunlight and strong odours.

Stories

What is Green Tea?

Just like Black Tea, it all starts with a small ‘just-plucked’ green tea leaf, usually about 5 cm long.

The leaf pickers deliver their leaves to the local factory for immediate processing. The core difference v Black Tea - the oxidation process that darkens the leaf is completely missing. The green leaf remains… green.

Step 1 - ‘Withering’: the whole leaves are spread out in warm air for up to a day to reduce the water content by about 10 to 20%. The leaves literally wilt and starts to lose some of its vibrant colour.

Step 2 - ‘Steaming/Pan Frying’: The critical ingredient to produce Green Tea. After withering, the wilted team is steamed or pan fried to destroy the enzymes that would otherwise be the catalyst for oxidation.
Step 3 - ‘Rolling / Shaping’: the soft leaves are shaped to requirement, either on a machine or by hand. This is where the world of green tea explodes in creating many unique teas, where a specific village may craft the tea to a characteristic and ownable shape. What emerges maybe the very large and thin leaves of Dragon Well Green Tea or the tight bullets of Gunpowder Tea.

Step 4 - ‘Drying’: the process varies from producer to producer and is sometimes integral to the shaping process. But in a nutshell, the Green Tea is heated in pans or ovens to remove remaining water content and ensure it is dry and stable for packaging.

Our spirit delivers no ordinary products

  • FAQ

    Does green tea include caffeine and is there more or less than black tea and coffee?
    Yes it does, and it varies. All tea leaves, just like coffee, contain caffeine. Tea usually has a lower level of caffeine than coffee, which averages around 95mg for a normal cup of coffee. But it is impossible to give a precise answer, because there are so many variables at play - the length of brew time, the amount of tea used, the age of the leaf, the provenance of the leaf. Even the temperature of the water. Our best advice is to treat all tea and coffee similarly if you need to manage your caffeine intake.

    I’ve heard that tea contains theanine. What is it and what does it do?
    Tea does indeed contain theanine, which is an amino acid [the building blocks of proteins]. Tea is one of only a few sources of theanine. It represents about 1% of dry weight and is at its highest concentrate in shade-grown teas like matcha and gyokuro. Whilst not yet proven in scientific studies that would permit specific health claims to be made, it is believed by many to be able to reduce mental and physical stress, promote relaxation and a sense of well-being. But not only that, it is more recently being thought to aid cognitive function. It’s one explanation for tea’s famous ability to create calm in a crisis [the Great British solution to all problems – ‘putting the kettle on’] and to stimulate when a little boost is required.

  • Delivery & Returns

    UK Standard Delivery: £3.95
    UK Next Day Delivery (mainland UK only): £9.95 (Order before 12pm)
    International Delivery is available, please see our delivery page for details. For more information and Terms & Conditions, please see our Delivery page.

  • Reviews

The Prince Sultan's Green Tea with Mint x 20 Tea Bag Sachets

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